John wynne berwick



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

JOHN WYNNE BERWICK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO RAINBOW PICTURES l CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MOVING PICTURES IN COLORS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV. 11, 1919.

t Application led August 23, 1916. Serial 'Noi 116,453. I'

lie it known that, I, Joux W. BEnw'1oK, a subject of the. hing of Great Britain, and a resident ot' the citi' of New York, borough of the lironx. in the county ot' Bronx and Statet ot' New York. have invented new and Improved Moving lietures in Colors, of whielr through the. movingr colorlilter or filters, and'l positive transparencies of such films are similarly projected. j

'The invention has for its general object to provide means ,whereby the natural shades and tonesI otl the subject or scene `photographed can be more nearly reproduced onI projection.

A more lspecific. object is to improve the methods so that it is possible l'to add, reinforce. accentuate or subdue any of the sln'irply Icut primary colors employed inthe taking or projection ot' sections of the color separated images that merge in the eye of the observer as a composite or natural picture by the persistence of vision.

A further object is to reduce to a miniinmn the well-known flicker effect in color moving picture projection, which flicker is often caused by the different sharp-cut primary colors appearing alternately on projection 'when one or more primary colors predominate.

It is well known in the art of taking mov-v ing pictures in colors that in order to separate each primary color of the subject or scene. it is necessary to use filters of more or less sharp absorption of color bands. A full color value is only then produced When the negative film best distinguishes the variation of color.

The sharpness of the absorption bands is of great importance in respect of the luminosity of the colors produced by them. Natural colors, however, do not present these sharp absorption bands, the absorption being always more or less gradual.

These are the obstacles that must be overcome in moving pictures in colors:

By using weak absorption color bands the negative ilni does not distinguish Well the kvarying colors.

variation ofv eolors,.andi'tlie colors foniprojectxon vare not luminous. If filters' of'sharp color absorption hands'are'nsed, 'the colors' 4or tones'with' the' object; and furthermore,

extreme ffiickerf is present. n I y My improved .nietlid' to Acorrect ,these obl jeetions, r whereby the natiiral' shades' andf ,tones n'i'oi'ingpicture colored obj ectsV with a "miniinum amount.;of-fflickefvcan be more nea rl y reproduced on p'ro'jectmmis based on Y the'well-known three 'or more color half-toile i. or photochrome processes, wherein a kcyl plate isalternatelli .employed with several color sep'arated plates'li'eariiig the" images of n This lcjfplatefis usually a black and White plateobtained` without an)v color Ase'paratlion filter, and therefore" presents 'the full iiionochroinaticl value of the image.` y l j A key4 plate is usedto -completeV and to balance. the component color-separated'plates of the vimage and to correctly. adjust where necessary the shades and to'nes in the reproduction of the colored object.`

The key plate is usuallyprinted lin grayblne or blue-black color or in any color that the instant. or'particular color of the reproduced objecty necessitates, in forder to, add, subdue or reduce, balance or reinforce vany of thei primary colors forming or to form the colored image of the object in combinai tion with the other compoi'i'entyy'color sepa'` .'ating plates 'produced by means of photographing through 'prirnary color filters on color sensitive plates termed panchromatic or orthochromatic as it is well known in the art.' A

While in the science of' lithography or photochrome art a key plate is found very important,y as explained above, it is also known in this art that printing colors necioo j essarily have to be changed in order to get a true color reproduction of'the subject to be reproduced, Aand Workers skilled in the 'art of photolithography and photochrome processes are using printing colors ivhich'they term primary, secondary 'or Atertiary in order to obtain the Very fine shades of color of the subject.

lVliile the lithographie or photochrome art has advanced to such a" fine point by having andfemploying so many methods and mechanical contrivances to vtranslate the natu al and true colors of the original by mixing different colors, adding or etch! ing or reducing, the art of producing motion pictures in true colors has been limited by;

"vision aiidtfori'n. onev full iiiiage in-colors) ot' the originah'I will proceedto show'lio\'v,` with' my improved method ,based'l on the v lithographie and photocliri'ne'processes I introduce th'e so-called',key plate which enables one to add to or4 i'ein'forjce. `weak,or; missing colors, or reduce predoi'r'i'iitia'tingI colors'in the projectedwiniage.of movjing My improved method ',relatSfiQ `p1''Oc'essesi whereinftlie successive pictures eare;taken usually onaii orthochromatic'ori panchromatic film, thrugh the color divisions l of 'a' moving colorfilter orsfilters.v Thepositive This key section or black and white section of the image is obtained in.; the taking camera by leaving open without any color filter one section of the rotating color screen, well known in' the art of inoving pictures in colors.

As fai-as :I am aware, I am the first to i employ a rotating color screen having an open space devoid Vof any filter or filters by which the negative film when developed will show sectional images, lone'sectioii of a black and white regular quality, and` two or three other coinponents'of the' full image in colorseparating quality (which are meant upon projection'of'the ositive film to overlap in the; eye ofthe o` server by persistence of l'h'ether there are'two or tliree'color-separated components in the full image will, of-

course,y`de end uponl whether-there are three lor fourl `,'1')[rii,uary color filters and one :section remains open ivitliou atiyffiltei" In casfeithe'rel 'are finir rec'urililngf "sections i "the"field 'of' 'the' rotating colori c'i-aeii'r iiiider 'iuy' improved method', three' se'ctinisliwill be filled' with* i'wcuri'ing sections in -the fieldof the -rotating" ,co'lolr,"'screen used in taking the negative flmf'l, That-,is'-to say, in case there' f ec'tions 'in the'field of the rotating fcolo'rscr'e'eii lunder my improved-` j, method,"twdsectioiis will "be, filled "with" transparenciesare prepared fronifthe negax-'wpriiiiaiy.color filters, and one section: re-

tive film and are then vprojected with"the aidpf a moving color filter or filters. Such filters ai'eusually ari'jangedfand 0pei'ated so that the successive 'picturesare taken and,l projected through filters of different primary colors which' are u'sediii'v a rotating disk ory s hutterjn the optical field, either ,in frontoi' back of the photographic lens.

My improved Amethod callsfor veryi ini-1:

portant changes or innovations in the art of taking and projection of moving pictures in colois,'aiid by which method they negative film asidefrom showing the color-separated sections :of the iniageof the subject,lshowvvsl one section of the film of a `,i'egular 'picture lengthl recurring at intervals in black and white quality. i g

This section of the black -and "White quality, showing iii` full detail the image of the subject, is the'image that is corresponding in every respect to the key plate of the lithographie, color half-tone and photo` chrome processes,'aiid`1 will show later that this keysectionpimage in black and white quality will control Athe shades and tones of the final projected image when Ythe colorseparated images and the key Iwill overlap each other, and will also cause softer gradation and less flicker, because it will be manipulated similar to the key plate described in the art of themechanical color printing processes.

color filters producingjiii the negative film color-separatedsectional images,l and the open space producing ay blacklfgindi white 'quality'section'image. Both 1n combinationl y 1. .l ,',v:i,v .u vf

forni on projection ofthe positive trans' parencv the fiiial full orco'inposite 'image of theobject or scene.'

optical field the rotating color screenso lthat. this vsection overlaps on projection all the color-'separated component sections 'of the full'A and finalimage, `.[l Wish to make it' i Vil lVliile prefer have "the black and white key sectional .iinage'toa'ppear in the' ,plain thatl ,itl can be also successfully ars t, ranged Iin the screen to appear either between the color-sepa'ratedl components or to appear on projection asl the very first section.

From a negative film thus producedfa positive transparency is made and is now ready for projection' -in colors with the aid of recurring color filters, the black and white or key "section at this stage assuming the important control of colors -in the pi'ojection'of`-tlie final colored image as explained below, or this positive transparency bearing the black and white lor key section ima-ge and the color separated images can be directly colored. dyed or toned photographically as it is well knowiriii the art. In suoli case the color screen will be only used in the taking carriera to produce in tli'e negative tilm iinagesf'otblack' and white' and color separated duality aii'tl the projection of' the positij'e. in colors "will take, place vwithout any4- recurring color filters. But' before touchiiigup'on"the projection of this positive transparency in colors, I wish to refer again to the basis of my in'iprove l method ot' ob'- taiuiu'g iiiovin'g pictli'ires in' colors, whereby the mitin-al'shades' and tones of the subject can be'ni'ore` nearly lreproduccdon projec-v tiolriwliiclris the mechanical color printing processes 'as iifentioncd above and I will compare this'now: picture positi've transparency with the color printing plates ofthe me! ch'anica'l processes.' W'here itis desired to obtain prints in colors'tfrom "the photomechanical plates, pigmentsifoff various shades of color from primary lt'o tertiary are used. 'In the moving i'c't'uien'iethod the usual means' or'produclng coloris lby using recurring'colorfilters either'inron'tor in back ot the photo graphic lens.

And lWhere in combination with t-he colorse'parated 1plates, the ,key plate of vthe lnechanical printing processes is used t'o either add, subdue or reduce, balance and reinforce any of"t'hefp rmary colors forming orto formthe' 'natural shades ortones ofthe col-l or'ed object; 'here in my process of moving pictures in colors thesectional image of this black and white key positive transpar-f'- ency is utilized for similar purposes in combinationwit'h the componentcolor extracted E onseparatedsection or `sections of the full 1n1age."-" "l "1 fig And Whereas the instant the special 'depth of coloror character lof-the original would require -to print the mechanicalkey plate in shades and tones of a color that would either add to or balance or reinforce the other componentl color plates, so similarly I eniploylin projection the black and white key section image by coloring it on projection with the aid of one of the recurring fil# ters, the color, shades and tones of which will depend either upon the c olor of the object' or the particular scene photographed' and the light or atmos heric condition under which the negative 1m was exposed. It is known to the informed in the art that the orthochromatic and panchromatic light sensitive films are not fully sensitive toy all colors of nature, and somev colors, for instance, deep red, require longer exposure to perfectly extract and register it .in the photographic film. This is one ot the reasons that producers ot' moving pictures in colors failed to produce perfect results, because even under excellent light conditions, a deep red i would not be dense enough in the negative film to show suiicient red value ot' the image in the red projecting positive section, and consequently where the. details were missing the colors would not project mented yon proj ec'tioir by 'the black Atand white i Bystopp'ingtlie openispacel amim timed iior' correctly-S timeduimages and f acv white section 'is not'jolstructed' bya'nycolor filter, I 'obtainfull-value l1of the lightands yregjster in thissection ofthe filinfeiery de-l tail of the fullimage'fofthe subject andv where some of' the 'component 'col'or vsection 75 or sections would fail toproduce or register l" correctly i the ini'a'crtanti details,l E onf'accoun't of poo'rlight conditionsglit-c'an bjefsiipplekey section image; as explainetlfbelow, and' go" besides it wil`1"support,;to aiarge degreeyairym of the primary component colorsnotNtully-"j- 'l expressed. on projection totorm ft'he shades and tones of thef o riginalb'y .utilizing onel -o'f the' y'recurrin'g projecting colors ltersj -85 v vfilled -in one of 'the fspaces offthejgrotating color'screen and'tinied'=tofappearion"'pros jection simultaneously Withthkey black- Q;

4and white positive'transparency. ;sf,

wishtohaveiibunderstoodithat theopen vspacef/in the; fieldl offthentaking rota-tingV colorscreen canf-be ymanipulated-similaritoo photograph-ic lenses: asbystoppingiitdown. n

sition toirestrainor subdue fthe unobstrct- '951 ed light -passi'ng l through the* open :spac'edto f i; i i

.the sensitiv'eifilm ahdffthus#varying the den@4 vsities of` the keyblackI and i White: section,I Hand toumalreiU-clear :Ii'mmv'm;,-postion to.,l 1 z y leave? this .open space tfor th'eulight to'pass=!1-00 through i unobstructed saudi-mbtain :iovem -J 'cordingly 'vary in 'densi-ty; or sli'ghtlyu istopi ,i i: down, and 1f necessary reduce 'the opening -to a minimum. so thatthe image lwillappeal".165

undertimed" andv UiX'e less :densit The terms yoveltnnedWand -u-ndertnned Hare "to be understood' :as ltheyi--are generallyfa. .y fadopted and lnownilntheart -ot 'pliotography. `I Wish-toihavel'itl-understood that 110 where I .have used the following termsblack and White section, or black and white quality section, .or key black and white Sect-ion,-I mean a photographic negative film section which was exposed in a takingA moving picture camera .to light directly Without any color Inter, and consequently has registered non-selectively details of colored objects without accentuating or separating any of the prim-ary colors; or, in other words, the labove-quoted terms mean picture sections having non-selective values.

In the accompanying drawing- Figure 1 is a front view of a simple form 125 of a color screen employed for carrying out the process;

Fig. 2 is -a View of a compound color screen having a plurality of series of color filters and openings; and

- portantifeature--Hiatmnwof @he sectors in '1" selective` values int ,alternating ireldtionuto,-i

Figa@ is aiportionof-s negative ilm'show-- screens having. two primary color lfilters to ing sections of black. and'wliite qual-ity. and one opening, ,it is to be understood, tllaitnnfy of eoloi'separated qualities. f .number of color filterzsnnL-yhe uspghf v Referring ,to the drzuying, .A designates v.Hm-*ing 7thus described, myy invention, l n sereenwhieh. is rotanbly disposed with reclaim new and desireto vsecureily:'Letv 510' speci tothe optical field-dof fche moving picters Patent: l A

ture talking. cir-mera. in the-usual manner, and l. A screenfor color moying pictpuiesluiv?,If it is provided witlifsuitable color-Vfiltei's, two. `ing uJ plurality of sections enolifilled with :rv i

being shown. in lphe--pifesentfinstance-. The prinnrry color-.filter and also ip sotioiropen y filter 1 is-,red and the fil-.ter g green; vand also or devoidof color, and stepping down mens in vthe screen is .anfopeningnogwhih isdefor varyinggthe size ofsuidopenseion,seid void ofaJ color iilter,- The scmentravels in means .including-an diaphragm -(lmyfiiig auf', p timed reletion. with thenegative hlm, so,openiugfthe border ofwhiclnis radially 17eJ that asa resultfclienegabivefi-lmrwill :havewducibleto zr connnon,centering.n q'. suecessivesections-:gyrf --zindw, which.. are 2. The process of reproducing ,nioyingj3,0 respectively,fof` green,.,. -1ed.,a1 id bleek and.pietu1es in .heoloisfronrfzr;ilin-d'lzrvinlgy secf='-.f W11ite qua1ity;.- wxwwrgfn. .f. gtions t'aglin.bhmugll.pllllilfly. 001m' lttp'sagid 5- If desired,.the screen `-niu.'y-=l1apwgean plu-1,seetions'tuken fwithoub fillers, Elll-.hf C,011-. ralityuof serieszgof i'ilters'jaliid; openings,-as ,sists iirgpizojecting. 5th@eolplgvsepglirtediseshown--in--Fig- 2',landifdesired t'lieblack.-and;.E tions lofitheiflm Witlrzthelaidpf figegqri'ingx .if White-openingmayibo-rendered adjustable;(cola-ltere, ndprojeeting enlrofille blilok by the vusefof:M151'sdiaphregmial,forffthe and wliiqseot-ionsvith:the aid qfMjnnodL, equivaien, Sasgto vary the;effective.size@l :flying filter'. M Y A of the openingorzopeningsaby1,-whicl1fthe. w3. The processgpf prodncingwnioyingpi r, black 'and -Whitesehtionsl'retai-ken.for :pro-iures in-,colorsiironpa film havinggpleigurel3,0. jected-.f A*trnimpiirenoy=iscinuie'froni mhe .segtiogisivi'n which?pdtuwsetigngHolmnegative filmfarrdlisprojeeted-.Withftlie'veid selective.;winluesfocun,atnegulzrri interi'grls, of .u irecurringlfeolorfiscreen,'wibh tahlsi .iur-.i wit-l1 ,iliter-mediate... .piet;u11;sections pixel-ion@ eitherL--leftzopenund-Lis' thus--devoidlof eol'o'rjxeicolorselectivefseotionmwithithemidof re-y or filled Withzf-s'afjlterwhich Lwillternr earring `prinmry-,colon filters .grmhtliegsec ,j color .modifyingflterf whose function'fs tions of*fnon-selecive yaluenitlr t-he'dl of i to c0101'fon-pmjectionfatle black iindfWhit/e' zrecurlingfsuitubleniodfyngfilters highland;t

seetionof-'theifpositve--trm1spareney,and-i .1011i projection the noibseletl,viegilrizigess,:witliw thus thefxey istui'ned yto a''eolorifaetor:Withisfftlie c0101' selective images into the colorlf` t-he {Lidi-bfithis-COlOrIIiOdiyiDgfilter, Which'rf'slmdes 1f-nd tonesofqthefgbjegbg-g gq-,ml makesitpossibletoiadd to='reinorce,accen-lfr- A screen -fo1'-,co1;0r';= moving pieturesb teiatefsubd e or balance any of the primaryl having af lura-lityz of' openings.theretzlnoughl colors of4 1e project-ed color-'separated con1-: `each 1led)^\\`rth:zi primary :color filter,- nnde ponentseotional images,Y and so providing also an opening devoid. ofefcolor, and Astepmeans' fwlieeby'the natu'ralshades and tones 'l ,ping-down means mounbed'iin'.saidilusmnen-, of the objeets'or scene-,photographed ,canbe t.ioned.opening, suidlmeans inolluding-nuirism,

more nearlyreproducedon'projeetiom s 1, diaphragm.;

1 Althongh the drawings illustrate colorg A JOH l, 

